The Use of Oncept Melanoma Vaccine in Veterinary Patients: A Review of the Literature

Overview

Journal Vet Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Veterinary Medicine

Date 2022 Nov 10

PMID 36356074

Authors

MacKenzie A Pellin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Oncept melanoma vaccine is xenogeneic DNA vaccine targeting tyrosinase. It is USDA approved for treatment of stage II to III canine oral melanoma and is also used off-label for melanomas arising in other locations and in other species. While the vaccine appears safe, the published data is mixed as to whether it provides a survival benefit, and the use of the vaccine is somewhat controversial in the veterinary oncology community. In this paper, the published literature describing the use of Oncept is reviewed and evaluated.

Citing Articles

Clinical evaluation of HuDo-CSPG4 DNA electroporation as adjuvant treatment for canine oral malignant melanoma: comparison of two vaccination protocols.

Camerino M, Giacobino D, Tarone L, Dentini A, Martano M, Morello E Vet Q. 2025; 45(1):1-16.

PMID: 40059815 PMC: 11894750. DOI: 10.1080/01652176.2025.2473717.

Comparative oncology in action: vignettes on immunotherapy development.

LeBlanc A, Mazcko C, Mason N, Chambers M, Brockington D, Pluhar G Vet Oncol. 2025; 2(1):5.

PMID: 39958231 PMC: 11825646. DOI: 10.1186/s44356-025-00017-4.

DNA vaccines as promising immuno-therapeutics against cancer: a new insight.

Shariati A, Khezrpour A, Shariati F, Afkhami H, Yarahmadi A, Alavimanesh S Front Immunol. 2025; 15:1498431.

PMID: 39872522 PMC: 11769820. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1498431.

Immunotherapeutic allogeneic dendritic cell and autologous tumor cell fusion vaccine alone or combined with radiotherapy in canine oral malignant melanoma is safe and potentially effective.

Xia Y, Liao A, Liu R, Yang S, Kuo C, Ke C Front Vet Sci. 2024; 11:1397518.

PMID: 39229600 PMC: 11368852. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1397518.

Establishment of Canine Oral Mucosal Melanoma Cell Lines and Their Xenogeneic Animal Models.

Li S, Liu Z, Lv J, Lv D, Xu H, Shi H Cells. 2024; 13(11.

PMID: 38891124 PMC: 11171988. DOI: 10.3390/cells13110992.

References

Henry C, Brewer Jr W, Whitley E, Tyler J, Ogilvie G, Norris A . Canine digital tumors: a veterinary cooperative oncology group retrospective study of 64 dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2005; 19(5):720-4. DOI: 10.1892/0891-6640(2005)19[720:cdtavc]2.0.co;2. View

Treggiari E, Grant J, North S . A retrospective review of outcome and survival following surgery and adjuvant xenogeneic DNA vaccination in 32 dogs with oral malignant melanoma. J Vet Med Sci. 2016; 78(5):845-50. PMC: 4905841. DOI: 10.1292/jvms.15-0510. View

Bergman P, McKnight J, Novosad A, Charney S, Farrelly J, Craft D . Long-term survival of dogs with advanced malignant melanoma after DNA vaccination with xenogeneic human tyrosinase: a phase I trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2003; 9(4):1284-90. View

de Vries T, Smeets M, de Graaf R, HOU-JENSEN K, Brocker E, Renard N . Expression of gp100, MART-1, tyrosinase, and S100 in paraffin-embedded primary melanomas and locoregional, lymph node, and visceral metastases: implications for diagnosis and immunotherapy. A study conducted by the EORTC Melanoma Cooperative Group. J Pathol. 2001; 193(1):13-20. DOI: 10.1002/1096-9896(2000)9999:9999<::AID-PATH729>3.0.CO;2-D. View

Marino D, Matthiesen D, Stefanacci J, Moroff S . Evaluation of dogs with digit masses: 117 cases (1981-1991). J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1995; 207(6):726-8. View

Vinayak A, Frank C, Gardiner D, Thieman-Mankin K, Worley D . Malignant anal sac melanoma in dogs: eleven cases (2000 to 2015). J Small Anim Pract. 2017; 58(4):231-237. DOI: 10.1111/jsap.12637. View

Smedley R, Lamoureux J, Sledge D, Kiupel M . Immunohistochemical diagnosis of canine oral amelanotic melanocytic neoplasms. Vet Pathol. 2010; 48(1):32-40. DOI: 10.1177/0300985810387447. View

Bergman P . Canine oral melanoma. Clin Tech Small Anim Pract. 2007; 22(2):55-60. DOI: 10.1053/j.ctsap.2007.03.004. View

Beirao B, Raposo T, Jain S, Hupp T, Argyle D . Challenges and opportunities for monoclonal antibody therapy in veterinary oncology. Vet J. 2016; 218:40-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2016.11.005. View

10.

Boston S, Lu X, Culp W, Montinaro V, Romanelli G, Dudley R . Efficacy of systemic adjuvant therapies administered to dogs after excision of oral malignant melanomas: 151 cases (2001-2012). J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2014; 245(4):401-7. DOI: 10.2460/javma.245.4.401. View

11.

Gyorffy S, Rodriguez-Lecompte J, Woods J, Foley R, Kruth S, Liaw P . Bone marrow-derived dendritic cell vaccination of dogs with naturally occurring melanoma by using human gp100 antigen. J Vet Intern Med. 2005; 19(1):56-63. DOI: 10.1892/0891-6640(2005)19<56:bmdcvo>2.0.co;2. View

12.

Vail D . Levels of evidence in canine oncology trials--a case in point. Vet Comp Oncol. 2013; 11(3):167-8. DOI: 10.1111/vco.12058. View

13.

Almela R, Anson A . A Review of Immunotherapeutic Strategies in Canine Malignant Melanoma. Vet Sci. 2019; 6(1). PMC: 6466282. DOI: 10.3390/vetsci6010015. View

14.

Talari K, Goyal M . Retrospective studies - utility and caveats. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2021; 50(4):398-402. DOI: 10.4997/JRCPE.2020.409. View

15.

Manley C, Leibman N, Wolchok J, Riviere I, Bartido S, Craft D . Xenogeneic murine tyrosinase DNA vaccine for malignant melanoma of the digit of dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2010; 25(1):94-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0627.x. View

16.

Gentschev I, Patil S, Petrov I, Cappello J, Adelfinger M, Szalay A . Oncolytic virotherapy of canine and feline cancer. Viruses. 2014; 6(5):2122-37. PMC: 4036544. DOI: 10.3390/v6052122. View

17.

Sakai C, Kawakami Y, Law L, Furumura M, Hearing Jr V . Melanosomal proteins as melanoma-specific immune targets. Melanoma Res. 1997; 7(2):83-95. DOI: 10.1097/00008390-199704000-00001. View

18.

Atherton M, Morris J, McDermott M, Lichty B . Cancer immunology and canine malignant melanoma: A comparative review. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2016; 169:15-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2015.11.003. View

19.

Houghton A, Meyers M, Chapman P . Medical treatment of metastatic melanoma. Surg Clin North Am. 1996; 76(6):1343-54. DOI: 10.1016/s0039-6109(05)70519-3. View

20.

Grosenbaugh D, Leard A, Bergman P, Klein M, Meleo K, Susaneck S . Safety and efficacy of a xenogeneic DNA vaccine encoding for human tyrosinase as adjunctive treatment for oral malignant melanoma in dogs following surgical excision of the primary tumor. Am J Vet Res. 2011; 72(12):1631-8. DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.72.12.1631. View